ACCOUNTING
Bonny Rock has joined MBAF as a director in the tax and accounting department. She will lead the firm’s state and local tax (SALT) practice. She previously was director of state and local tax at Cherry Bekaert. Rock has a bachelor’s in marketing and business management from Northwood University in Michigan.
ENGINEERS/CONTRACTORS
Yahaira Parrales has been named chief of staff at Miguel Lopez Jr., Inc., an asphalt and concrete maintenance firm based in Medley. She most recently was executive director for office operations.
LAW
Wifredo A. “Willy” Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida since 2010, will join Holland & Knight as a partner in its Miami office. He will lead the firm’s global compliance and investigations team, which focuses on corporate compliance and government investigations within the firm’s white collar defense practice. Ferrer’s career has included being deputy chief of staff and counsel to then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and an assistant county attorney for Miami-Dade. He has a bachelor’s from the University of Miami and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Linda Worton Jackson will be a shareholder in the newly created Pardo Jackson Gainsburg, PL, based in Miami. She will chair the firm’s corporate and financial services and bankruptcy departments. Jackson was previously at Salazar Jackson. She has a bachelor’s from Duke and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Luis Salazar will head the recently launched Salazar Law — formerly known as Salazar Jackson — based in Coral Gables. His practice will include commercial litigation and other aspects of business law. He has also launched Sword & Quill Consultants, to provide law firms with guidance on cybersecurity compliance, harnessing artificial intelligence, and adopting effective project management techniques. He has an MBA from UM and a J.D. from Columbia.
MEDIA
At Telemundo:
▪ Claudia Foghini has been promoted to executive vice president, talent management and production services at Telemundo Networks and Studios and will continue to be based in Miami. She previously was senior vice president, production strategy, Telemundo Studios. She will lead the production management and services unit, and also will be responsible for the talent department, including casting and management of on-air talent across multiple Telemundo properties. Foghini has degrees in law and political science from Universidad Católica in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
▪ Vanessa Pombo has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president of production management and business news, Telemundo Network. Previously, she was senior director, business news.
REAL ESTATE
Billy Coleman has been promoted to director of condominium operations at Atlantic | Pacific Companies, which is based in Miami. He will oversee Broward and Palm Beach county condo clients as well as Orlando and Tampa clients. He previously was a regional manager. Coleman has a bachelor’s in accounting and business/management from Marymount University in Virginia.
This column lists high-level promotions of senior executives at the director level and above who are based in South Florida. These announcements, which also are at miamiherald.com, are for full-time, paid positions. Send items, including previous job; educational background; and jpegs of head shots, to movers@miamiherald.com.
See past senior-level hires and promotions in South Florida for 2017:
Mover’s spotlight
Name: Justin Elegant
New position: Partner on the dispute resolution team at Berger Singerman. He’ll be based in the law firm’s Miami office.
Previous position: Partner at Petros & Elegant.
About: Elegant’s practice has focused on complex civil litigation in state, federal and appellate courts. He has represented individual and corporate clients in commercial, real estate and insurance-related disputes. He has interned for Shelby Highsmith, U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida. He also worked for Anderson, Moss, Sherouse & Petros, P.A., which was acquired by Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP.
Community service: Elegant founded and directed the Dade County Bar Young Lawyers eMentoring Program, which paired volunteer young lawyers from the Dade County Bar with local legal magnet high school students for telementoring relationships. Elegant is also a founding board member for the Open Tent organization at Temple Beth Sholom and a founding member of the board of directors for Hugs & Kisses for Miami Children’s Hospital. He is chair of the Florida Bar Grievance Committee and belongs to the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Florida Justice Association and the Dade County Bar Association.
Education: Bachelor’s and J.D. from UM.
Best advice he ever received: You can never be too prepared, and always treat your adversaries with respect because you never know when you will meet again. This advice came from the late U.S. District Court Judge Shelby Highsmith.
Choices for Spotlight are made from promotions sent to movers@miamiherald.com